Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-02-20

,n,Ie is a demure little bird OF Il rusty
rusty bronze, often without the slightest
attraction. the most astonishing contrast
re- the male. The male argus pheasant Is
one nj the most remarkable of its class,
presenting q startling appearance thou
eands of large eyes appearing IRON the
mass of sOmbre feathers, while the female
is very inconspicuous. 1t will not do to
saw this. too. too holds good in the human
race. ashere the case is reversed, and beauty
and personal attractions are found IN the
The courtship of the humming bird is
a particularly arduous operation, the lover
having to fight his way to nuptial life. Sew
erol species of these little living gems are
common in any dooryard, and are engaged
in a continual warfare with each other, Of
ten the engagement is carried on with such
vigor that the birds are injured. A friend
nearby tells me that i'll observing these
contests she is positive that at times a male
when finding that he is being worsted,
teigns death, and drops to the ground, Ill
fact, plays 'pOssum' to escape, and carries
il 10 such an extent that she has gone out
and picked the bird up and brought 1t INTO
tbeI house, where it soOn recovered. The
old story of putting salt Oh a birds tail
NAV be intended rs q joke, but | have ac-
oomplished all but putting on the salt hav-
ing outwitted a humming bird, and catch
ing it i'll my hands. | saw the little fellow
in the garden up in the mountains, ana
noticing that he was unusually tame ap-
preached, and when within ten feet he flew
away to another tree near by. followed
him up out of curiosity for halt an hour,
during which he made ut least twenty
changes, always returning to the same
twigs, and and / soon found that | was
gaining n step or two ut every change. RI
nally | stood not two feet from the little
creature, that with its head on one side,
eyed me with curiosity rather then fear.
A few more flights, and | could a v
Knocked ii over with my hat, but moved
my head slowly to and fro to keep Its at
tentiOn there, and then gradually back to
give the impression that | was not coming
nearer, and at the same time | thrust my
hand forward and under it. The ruse was
q complete success; the little bead-llKe
eyes were upon my head, and now II had
the historical pinch OF salt | could have
used it; instead, / caught the little fellow
by the tail between my thumb and fore
finger, holding him prisoner, an after
taking up to the house, rs / could hardly
expect any one to believe such Il story,
| released him. Perhaps my captive was
not in good condition that day-was under
the weather. | will give him the benefit
of the doubt; but the birds sometimes can
be deceived. / remember, rs n boy, climb
ing to the top of a pole and catching an as
tonished swallow in my hand, that per-
haps had been asleep.
Our Eastern bluejay is a most pugnacious
lover, and at this time his impassloned
notes are well worth hearing, now sweet
and low, suddenly rising rs if in eXpostu-
lation, changing to wild discordant shriekS
and mimiCry almost marvellous. To re-
turn To humming birds. There is one in
South America, known rs EtOrlsugar mel
tivOrt, that performs some curious antics
during the cOurtship season. 1t reSenl-
bles some gorgeous insect as it darts through
the air, its head and neck being Il beautiful
metalicblue with a border of white, othor
portions being Il rich'metallic green. The
The tail, which is pure white, can he eX-
handed so us to form a semi-Circle, and
when in the air with the tail feathers out
stretched it looks rs though it were rest
ing on a twig. For several moments the
little creature will remain literally sus-
pended in the air with this curious cross
piece vibrating-a singular mode oil court
ship.
The cOurtShip of the. grouse is familiar
to all who have i%requented the haunts OF
this bird. In the pinnated grouse it com
mences in March, and ut this time the male
seems to be endowed with n peculiar note
that is so clear and resonant that 1t can be
heard for two miles or more. They seem
to have certain spots where they meet and
carry on their cOurtShip. A single male
will often reach, a place and by its note
call the rest, In a short time 4 dozen or
more birds may he seen indulginS III a veri-
table cakewalk, and going through the
most remarkable motions and antics. Their
feathers stand out like quilts upon the fret
full pOrcuplnc, the entertainment often end
ing in n Sanguinary battle.
This method of selecting n certain local
ity for q trysting-place finds its perfection
amongccrtain birds of Australia, popularity
known as the bower of birds. The ediiices
that some,of them erect show q wonderful
amount of what in Il human builder would
be termed intelligence. One OF the first
was discovered by Mr.. CoXen, of Brisbane,
New South Wales. 1t was made by the
bird known TO science rs the PtilOnorhyn-
chus holortriceuS. The 'hall" was eXhib-
tied by Mr.. COXcn in the museum of natl
raj history ut Sydney, and mary persons
refused to believe that il was made by birds,
believing that it WAS the work of some
human being. When the mating time
comes n place is selected rs n flooring, and
covered with twigs of a similar length, all
carefully interviewer. Upon the centre OF
this the walls are erCCtcd-Oi twigs insert
ell into the floor in TOW q short distance
apart, so that the tops fall together and
teurh each other, forming n small room,
quite watertight, as the twigs of the roof
are interviewer one with another. When
complete, the structure is about three feet
in length. One would imagine this quite
enough, but the bird is not only a builder,
but Il collector of bric-a-brac, anal rs soon
soon rs its work of building is finished it
collects all kinds of curiOns Obiects-bits
of bone, colored glass from camps, gaudy
shells and insects-in fact, anything of q
striking nature, so that at some halls"
over q hushel of this material is found. In
this hall the courtship is carried on, the
male following its mate about, picking up
the fancy articles, as if to call her atten-
ton to them; in fact. they are love offer
ingS, and evidently intended as IN appeal
to her aesthetic tastes.
Gin the genus Chalmydera there are four
species which build similar structures for
n similar purpose, though differing archi-
tecturally. One of the largest is the work
of c. maculata, which is often four feet
long and two in width. Here there is no
flooring, the rods being thrust into the
sand, so that the tops meet above, and
though the birds are continually passing
and playing with the curious objects they
place there, these halls of cOurtsEip should
not he confused with the nests. rs they are
entirely distinct from them, the latter be
ing built in trees at some distance away.
In the British Museum may be seen one
of the halls of. cOurtshln of the latter sne- |